wfn.org | Lutheran Theologian, Lecturer, Walter R. Bouman Dies

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 19, 2005

Lutheran Theologian, Lecturer, Walter R. Bouman Dies
05-149-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Walter R. Bouman, a prominent
Lutheran theologian and lecturer, retired professor of systematic
theology and pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA), died of colon cancer Aug. 17 at his home in Columbus,
Ohio.  He was 76.
     "Walter lived these last days valiantly and shared witness
for all of us to the power of the 'Light that never fades,'" said
the Rev. Mark R. Ramseth, president, Trinity Lutheran Seminary,
Columbus.
     "What he bore in his heart and spirit as a robust and vital
teacher of the gospel, he sustained as witness, even into his
death.	For his service to the Trinity community of faith and
formation -- and to the entire church -- we give thanks," Ramseth
said.
     A service of baptismal renewal and resurrection will be Aug.
23 at the Gloria Dei Worship Center on the seminary campus.
     Bouman was born July 9, 1927, in Springfield, Minn.  He
earned a bachelor's degree and master of divinity from Concordia
Seminary, St. Louis, and a doctorate in theology from University
of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
     In 1956, Bouman was ordained in the Lutheran Church-Missouri
Synod (LCMS) and served as pastor of two LCMS congregations --
St. Paul Lutheran Church, Chatfield, Minn., and St. Matthew
Lutheran Church, Albany, N.Y. -- before joining the faculty of
Concordia Teachers College, River Forest, Ill., in 1963.
Concordia is a college of the Missouri Synod.
     Bouman began teaching systematic theology at the former
Evangelical Lutheran Theological Seminary (ELTS), Columbus, Ohio,
in 1971.  He became a pastor of the former American Lutheran
Church (ALC) in 1977.  In 1978, ELTS merged with the Hamma
Divinity School, Springfield, Ohio, to create Trinity Lutheran
Seminary.  The ALC was among three church bodies that formed the
ELCA in 1988.  Trinity is one of eight ELCA seminaries.
     Bouman was a member of the American Academy of Religion and
president of the Lutheran Academy for Scholarship.  He was a
guest lecturer at the Theologische Hochschule Leipzig, Germany,
and The General Theological Seminary, New York.
     He served on the Lutheran-Episcopal dialogues that led to a
full-communion relationship for the ELCA and Episcopal Church.
Bouman was a member of the Anglican-Lutheran International
Commission, and a consultant to the Anglican-Lutheran dialogue in
Canada and to the conversations between the Anglican churches of
Britain and Ireland and the Scandinavian and Baltic Lutheran
Churches.
     After his retirement in 1999, Bouman continued to teach at
Trinity as professor emeritus until April 2005, when he was
diagnosed with advanced colon cancer.
     Bouman was author or co-author of 12 books, the most recent
a book of reflections and prayers on the Augsburg Confession.  He
contributed to three encyclopedias and 10 books, including
Exploring and Proclaiming the Apostles' Creed, and was the author
of more than 200 journal articles, reviews, audiotapes and
courses on videotape.
     Bouman is survived by his wife Janet; sons Andrew, Lukas and
Gregory; grandchildren Kenneth, Janelle and Nathaniel; his
brother David and sister Trudy Decker.	He was preceded in death
by his brother Robert.
     Bouman was a member of Redeemer Lutheran Church, Columbus.
-- -- --
     The home page for Trinity Lutheran Seminary is at
http://www.trinitylutheranseminary.edu on the Web.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news